With the special election for state Senate District 37 set for March 17, the familiar lament about negative advertising fills the op-ed pages, blogs and social media sites.

He said this, she said that, he said the other thing, with each of the two front-runners denying the particular charges leveled against them.

So with all this noise, who do you believe? Who is best suited to represent the 37th Senate District in Sacramento?

The answer can be found by looking at the endorsements of the elected officials you know and trust. Assemblyman Don Wagner’s endorsements are a who’s who of Orange County conservative leaders: District Attorney Tony Rackauckas and Sheriff Sandra Hutchens both endorse him as the best candidate to keep our community safe.

Four of the five current county supervisors (Lisa Bartlett, Andrew Do, Todd Spitzer and Michelle Steel), and three of the four who served the last term with candidate John Moorlach (State Senators Janet Nguyen and Patricia Bates as well as Spitzer), have endorsed Wagner as the best candidate to work effectively in Sacramento to pass legislation that helps Orange County and California. Orange County Auditor-Controller Eric Woolery, Assessor Claude Parrish and Clerk-Recorder Hugh Nguyen likewise endorse Wagner.

All three of Orange County’s congressional representatives, Reps. Ed Royce, Mimi Walters and Dana Rohrabacher, the vast majority of the Republican caucus in the state Assembly, and many others round out the overwhelming support Wagner enjoys among those who have worked with him and Moorlach.

The reason for this overwhelming support is simple: Wagner has a well-earned reputation for taking a common-sense approach to the problems that face Orange County and the state and, while maintaining his conservative principles, working across the aisle to get legislation passed and signed by the governor.

That is why Wagner has been recognized as the legislator of the year by the Orange County Republican Party and the Orange County Business Council and has received the Collaborative Lawmaker Award from the Association of California Cities.

Orange County needs a principled and effective leader in the state Senate, and Wagner is that candidate.

Last night I became aware of a developing story out of Sacramento with Orange County ties. It appears that Orange County Supervisor John Moorlach is currently exploring a run for Governor of California, He has been rumored to be up in Sacramento within the last week looking into what kind of support that he would get if he were to jump into the race. Currently the only candidate that has officially announced for the post is Assemblyman Tim Donnelly. In my opinion Moorlach would be an infinitely better choice for Republicans than Donnelly.

Moorlach got his start in Orange County politics by losing in a race against Bob Citron for the Orange County Treasurer-Tax Collector position in 1994. After the County went bankrupt in December 1994 Moorlach was appointed to the position after three months by the County Board of Supervisors. He served for 11 years as the Orange County Treasurer-Tax Collector before making a run for Supervisor (2nd District succeeding Jim Silva) in 2006 and defeating Stanton Councilmember David Shawver.

Supervisor Moorlach has a more extensive biography up on his Supervisorial website:

The Honorable John M. W. Moorlach, C.P.A., is the Second District Supervisor on the Orange County Board of Supervisors, representing the cities of Costa Mesa, Cypress, Huntington Beach, La Palma, Los Alamitos, Newport Beach, Seal Beach, Stanton, and a portion of Buena Park and Fountain Valley.

Supervisor Moorlach currently serves on several boards, commissions, and committees, including: the Orange County Transportation Authority, the Orange County Vector Control District, the Orange County Local Agency Formation Commission, the Orange County Criminal Justice Coordinating Council (Chairman), the Orange County Juvenile Justice Coordinating Council, the Orange County Ending Homelessness Commission (Chairman), the Newport Bay Watershed Executive Committee (Chairman), the Children and Families Commission of Orange County (alternate), the National Association of Counties, the Orange County Council of Governments (alternate), the Southern California Association of Governments (alternate), the Southern California Regional Airport Authority, the Southern California Water Committee, the South Orange County Watershed Management Area Executive Committee, and the California State Association of Counties Board of Directors, including its Executive Committee and the Urban Counties Caucus (representing the most populated counties in California).

Prior to being elected to the Board of Supervisors in 2006, he served as the Orange County Treasurer-Tax Collector for nearly twelve years. Supervisor Moorlach has the distinction of having predicted the largest local government investment portfolio loss and the second largest municipal bankruptcy in U.S. history. He has been a voice on major fiscal issues facing the county, state, and the nation. He is a noted and respected long-time advocate for public employee pension reform and serves on the California Foundation for Fiscal Responsibility Advisory Board.

Prior to serving as Orange County Treasurer-Tax Collector, Moorlach was Vice President of Balser, Horowitz, Frank & Wakeling, an Accountancy Corporation, and was the administrative partner of its Costa Mesa office. He served on numerous nonprofit and industry related boards during his eighteen years in public practice and was a frequent writer and speaker on financially related topics.

Moorlach is a California history enthusiast and served as Vice President of the Gold Discovery to Statehood California (1848-1850) Sesquicentennial Foundation Board. He has photographed nearly all of the State’s historical landmarks, a program under the auspices of the State Historical Resources Commission. Consequently, he has visited every county in the state, some on numerous occasions, and has enjoyed multiple drives on Highway One, from San Diego County to Crescent City and beyond.

Moorlach graduated from California State University in Long Beach in 1977 and passed the C.P.A. exam in 1978. He completed his studies for the Certified Financial Planner designation in 1987. He earned a Certificate in Public Finance from the University of Delaware, Division of Continuing Education in 1995, the Certificate of Achievement in Public Plan Policy (CAPPP) in Employee Pensions in 1999 and the Trustees Masters Program in 2003 through the International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans, and the New Supervisors Training Institute in 2007 from California State University in Sacramento in cooperation with their Center for California Studies.

As far as I can tell, no other news agency or blog has run anything on this, but hopefully over the coming weeks some more information will become available.

In case you weren’t following every word of my live blog, former Orange County Board of Education Trustee Long Pham is officially jumping into the SD-34 race.

Just last week our blogger, Dominus, covered SD-34 and speculated on the possibility of a Pham candidacy. Other likely SD-34 Republican candidates are Supervisor Janet Nguyen and former Assemblyman Jim Silva. Rancho Santiago Community College District Trustee and former Assemblyman Jose Solorio will likely represent the Democrats, though Garden Grove Planning Commissioner Joe Dovinh may jump in.

More on this in the coming weeks and months ahead, but it’s clear the SD-34 games have begun.

NBC 4 reports that former Orange County Treasurer-Tax Collector Robert L. Citron (D-Santa Ana) died earlier today at the age of 87.

A career employee of what was then the office of the Orange County Tax Collector, Citron was elected Tax Collector in 1970. When Republican Orange County Treasurer Ivan Swanger retired in 1973, the offices were merged, with Citron becoming the first combined Orange County Treasurer-Tax Collector.

Citron was re-elected in 1974, 1978, 1982, 1986, 1990, and 1994. Citron’s investment schemes brought high yields to the county investment pool, but his opponent in the June 1994 election accused Citron of making risky investments. That opponent’s criticisms were dismissed by many as election rhetoric. Six months after the election, in December 1994, Orange County declared bankruptcy and Citron resigned, before even taking office in the seventh term he had just won. Under Citron’s watch in 1994, the $8 billion county investment pool lost $1.64 billion.

In March 1995, three months after declaring bankruptcy, the Board of Supervisors appointed Citron’s 1994 opponent as Treasurer-Tax Collector; John Moorlach would go on to serve as Treasurer-Tax Collector for 11 years before winning election to the Board of Supervisors in the June 2006 elections (and taking office that December after Supervisor Jim Silva resigned a month early to start his State Assembly term).

Even though the 2012 Presidential Election just ended a few months ago, many candidates are already putting the pieces together for the next campaign.

In 2014, I suspect there will only be two competitive state legislative races in Orange County: SD 34 (Correa) and AD 65 (Quirk-Silva). In this post, I will focus on SD 34 and save AD 65 for another day.

By any standard measures, SD 34 is a swing district. Democrats outnumbered Republicans by less than a percentage point. The district voted heavily in favor of Proposition 8. The incumbent Lou Correa is termed-out in 2014.

Here is my analysis of this race:

REPUBLICAN FIELD

The most active candidate on the Republican side is Supervisor Janet Nguyen. She started plotting for this seat back in 2011 when she endorsed Long Beach Councilman Gary DeLong for Congress over Los Alamitos Councilman Troy Edgar in exchange for the support of LA Supervisor Don Knabe.

You may wonder why is the support of Don Knabe important? It is because the new SD 34 have a sizable portion of Los Angeles.

Janet also lucked-out when then-campaign treasurer Kindee Durkee cleaned out the accounts of Senator Lou Correa and Assemblyman Jose Solorio. One of these two politicians were supposed to challenge Janet in 2012. Instead, the 1st District Supervisor faced a token candidate and didn’t have to spend a whole lot of money for her re-election. Janet could be sitting on $300,000 – $350,000 right now.

Another Republican candidate in this race is former Assemblyman Jim Silva. I say potential because Jim is still wishy-washy about it. Sure he is sitting on top of $400,000 but the idea of running in a brutal primary then go through a general election doesn’t sit well with Jim. If anything, Jim wants to be drafted by the GOP establishment to run.

Jim may end up running after all, depending on the field.

Aside from these two Republicans, we have another one thinking about it – Long Pham. The former Orange County Board of Education member and nuclear engineer who spent $100,000 of his personal money on a failed assembly campaign is talking to people about a potential run for SD 34. Long have loyal followers in the Vietnamese community. He just need to hire a better campaign consultant if he is to make another run at public office.

DEMOCRATIC FIELD

The front runner on the Democratic side is Jose Solorio, a trustee of the Rancho Santiago Community College District. As a government consultant, Jose will have plenty of time and flexibility to campaign in this district. I’m not sure how much money he is sitting on but financial resources should not be a problem if Jose is the only Democrat in the race. Money from Sacramento will just flow into this war chest.

Jose’s best bet is to make it into the general November election where more Democrats are likely to vote. Currently, I see a big problem for Jose – the person he is trying to succeed.

It is in Lou Correa’s interest to have Janet win the 34 SD in 2014 so that it will trigger a special election in 2015 for her supervisorial seat. Lou and his staff will work behind the scene to help Janet (they can’t do it publicly).

The other Democrat in this race is former Garden Grove planning commissioner Joe Dovinh. Joe likes to run. Does he have a chance of winning? Sure, if he can make it through the primary with a Republican opponent. It’s going to take a lot for Joe not to run and Janet knows it.

Later this week I will write about AD 65 and the likely Republican contender for this seat against incumbent Democrat Sharon Quirk-Silva.

All of the recommendations of the Endorsements Committee tonight must be ratified by the Central Committee on October 15. (The Central Committee can and does overturn recommendations from the Endorsements Committee.)

The OC GOP Central Committee confirmed a set of early endorsements in August and regular endorsements in September. Here are those endorsements, so far.

Tonight, the OC GOP Endorsements Committee meets to make recommendations to the OC GOP Central Committee for late endorsements to be made at the October 15 OC GOP Central Committee meeting.

These late endorsements were either because the candidates submitted late applications or the decision was delayed by either the Central Committee or the Endorsements Committee (San Clemente’s Jim Dahl and San Juan Capistrano’s Sam Allevato and Ginny Kerr were delayed while the rest were late applications).

6:29 PM – Candidate Kim McCarthy says she’s 51 after briefly struggling to remember her age. She states that incumbent Sam Allevato voted for a $30 million bond that increased property taxes and has needlessly borrowed money to pay for city expenses that should have come from reserves. She worked at the Pontiac Motor Plant to work her way through Wayne State University. After Wayne State, she worked on commission basis. McCarthy says she wants respect for constituents’ money. She says she will not vote for bonds nor for any grants, matching or non-matching. She says she wants to help raise property values.

6:32 PM – Candidate Roy L. Byrnes is a physician by training has lived in Orange County since 1959 and was elected to the San Juan Capistrano City Council in 1972 and voluntarily retired in 1976 to spend more time teaching at UCI and on his medical practice. He expresses his concern about the leftward shift of City Councils in San Juan Capistrano, most recently led by Sam Allevato. Byrnes urges the committee to not “take the easy way out” by refusing to endorse. He says the city’s residents are 40% Democrats, and the Democrats do not bother to field a candidate because they’re happy with Allevato. (OC Political fact check: 26.6% of San Juan Capistrano’s registered voters are Democrats.) He says if the OC GOP fails to endorse, the Democrats will win.

6:37 PM – A resident says there is hostility to religion on the City Council with the effort to tax religious schools and requiring these religious schools offer scholarships and build trails, which is an intrusion of government upon the school. He cites the City Council’s requirement that only councilmembers can give the invocation, which “sounds like a state religion.”

6:39 PM – San Juan Capistrano Planning Commissioner Rob Williams speaks in opposition to Kim McCarthy because he says she only says negative things about the city even when he says the facts contradict her. He says McCarthy not only contributed money but also walked precincts for Democrat Laura Freeze, who unseated Joe Soto, the CRA/OCGOP-endorsed candidate.

6:41 PM – A resident speaks of the high water rates in San Juan Capistrano. He says there’s a $100 million debt, including a water department with a now-$6 million debt (previously $8 million). He says he voted for Democrat Freeze because her supporters hoodwinked him into thinking she was a fiscal conservative and that Freeze fooled many others.

6:43 PM – McCarthy states she gave two $250 checks to Freeze, who had told her she was a fiscal conservative with a financial background. McCarthy notes she’s endorsed by SOCRA and Family Action PAC, as is Byrnes. She says she would never support or vote for Freeze again.

6:45 PM – Byrnes says he and McCarthy are not politicians, just Republicans trying to do the best they can. He says that “evil triumphs” when the good do nothing, and that’s the reason the OC GOP should endorse in this race to prevent the Democrats from capturing one of the Council seats.

6:47 PM – Endorsements Committee Member Mary Young expresses her concern about candidates who simply attack their opponents but do not explain what they will do as Councilmembers. Young expresses her concern that McCarthy failed to disclose her support for Freeze on the endorsements questionnaire in the section that asked about support of Democrats.

After dodging the question for a while, Williams says he voted for the tax.

6:49 PM – Endorsements Committee Member Mary Young speaks and Candidate Kim McCarthy starts shouting over her, with each demanding that the other show respect. Young states and McCarthy shouts about how hard they work on the Central Committee and as a candidate, respectively. (OC Political wishes we had a camera going.) McCarthy rises out of her seat as the male Endorsements Committee members have facial expressions of concern about a potential physical confrontation.

6:50 PM – Endorsements Committee Member Mary Young makes a motion to endorse nobody. It dies for lack of a second.

6:51 PM – Endorsements Committee Member Thomas Gordon expresses his disappointment in the fighting. He says he received numerous phone calls from legislators and other elected officials, and that he is insulted that Allevato couldn’t show up for the meeting when he requested the endorsement while Gordon drove 60 miles from his office to be here.

6:53 PM – Endorsements Committee Member Chandra Chell says a first-time candidate does not have a voting record, so we can only take a candidate at their word.

6:54 PM – Discussion ensues as the committee notes several people who gave money to Democrats were endorsed by the OC GOP Central Committee.

6:55 PM – Endorsements Committee Chair Mark Bucher expresses his disappointment at the way McCarthy conducted herself toward Endorsements Committee Member Mary Young. However, Bucher says he is completely unimpressed with McCarthy’s opponents who were absent despite saying they would be present. Bucher also expresses his concern about the need for elected officials to show restraint. Bucher expresses concern about Allevato’s support of the impact fee imposed on religious schools, which Bucher says is simply a tax by another name.

6:56 PM – Endorsements Committee Member Thomas Gordon echoes Bucher’s disappointment about McCarthy’s treatment of Young, but he still plans to vote to recommend McCarthy for endorsement and hopes she wins the election. He says if she gets the endorsement, she represents the Republican Party, and she hopes to represent the people of San Juan Capistrano. If she reacts like that to Young, she may do the same to constituents, which will reflect badly upon both the Republican Party and the City of San Juan Capistrano.

6:58 PM – The vote is 2-1-1 (Gordon and Chell in favor, Young against, and Bucher abstaining) to recommend the endorsements of McCarthy and Byrnes.

I don’t know what they said, but McCarthy and Young spoke and shook hands after the vote.

Laguna Niguel City Council

6:59 PM – At the urging of Endorsements Committee Member Chandra Chell and Central Committee Member Norm Dickinson, the committee unanimously recommends Jerry McCloskey for endorsement, noting McCloskey’s endorsements by myriad conservatives, including Laguna Niguel Councilman Robert Ming. (McCloskey isn’t here, as he has a scheduling conflict with a city commission.)

San Clemente City Council

7:00 PM – Jim Dahl notes he is a 16-year City Councilman and speaks of his family, including his son in the USMC and granddaughter who is on the TV show Parks & Recreation. He speaks of his roles on the OC Vector Control District Board, OC Fire Authority, and Transportation Corridor Agencies. He says he is endorsed by Assemblywoman Diane Harkey, Supervisor Pat Bates, Supervisor Bill Campbell, and the Lincoln Club of Orange County. He notes his city’s AAA bond rating, parks and beaches. He closes, “We wish San Juan would give us more sand.”

7:02 PM – Endorsements Committee Member Mary Young asks about how many people are running for how many seats.

7:02 PM – Dahl says there are two slots with five candidates.

7:03 PM – Central Committee Alternate Jennifer Beall notes Dahl endorsed John Alpay in the 2010 Capistrano Unified School District recall and again in this 2012 general election. Beall notes Alpay is an official endorsement against Prop 32. She says Dahl has “spit in the face” of the party for twice backing Alpay against OC GOP-endorsed candidates.

7:05 PM – Central Committee Member Norm Dickinson speaks in favor of Dahl, citing his property rights record as the only council member backing the CA GOP position on a San Clemente ballot measure.

7:06 PM – Dahl says he considers Alpay a friend and considers it a matter of honor and will not withdraw his endorsement of Alpay.

7:07 PM – Endorsements Committee Member Chandra Chell asks how can Dahl reconcile being a fiscal conservative with endorsing Alpay (the only candidate running for his trustee area in the 2010 CUSD recall).

7:11 PM – No one makes any motion regarding Dahl, so the Committee moves on.

Mesa Consolidated Water District, Division 1

7:12 PM – Endorsements Committee Member Chandra Chell speaks in favor of Eric Bever based on his record as a Costa Mesa Councilman and his role as part of Righeimer’s team. The committee votes unanimously to recommend Bever for endorsement.

Municipal Water District of Orange County, Division 6

7:13 PM – Incumbent Jeffrey Thomas praises the work of the Endorsements Committee and of OC GOP Executive Director Scott Loenhorst. He says they should never be yelled at. Thomas was appointed to the seat three years ago when his predecessor had been flown to a board meeting on a Metropolitan Water District of Southern California plane from his La Quinta home (far outside MWDOC). Thomas was appointed to replace the carpetbagger. Thomas won a two-year term in 2010 and is up for re-election this year. He fought the state’s $13 billion water bond and will fight the 2013 water bond that will likely be $14 billion.

7:15 PM – The Endorsements Committee votes unanimously to recommend Thomas for endorsement. Thomas pledges not to stay an argue.

Huntington Beach Union High School District, Full Term

7:16 PM – Candidate John Briscoe speaks against a $250 million bond in the Ocean View School District, a $27 million technology bond in Fountain Valley School District, and a $927 million bond in the Coast Community College District that doesn’t build any schools. He says the incumbents are “tiny-R” Republicans who brag about their endorsements by the unions, and the unions will spend $100,000 to buy those two seats.

7:19 PM – Endorsements Committee Member Thomas Gordon asks if Briscoe is endorsed by Huntington Beach City Councilman (and former Huntington Beach Union High School District Board Member) Matt Harper.

7:20 PM – Briscoe says Harper would have endorsed him had he run for the short-term two-year seat instead of one of the two full-term four-year seats. He says he is endorsed by Congressman Dana Rohrabacher, Assemblyman Jim Silva, and former Assemblymen Van Tran and Chuck DeVore.

7:20 PM – In response to an inquiry from Central Committee Alternate Scott Peotter, Endorsements Committee Chair Mark Bucher notes that because Christina Shea and Lynn Schott are already endorsed for the two Council seats in Irvine, so the Endorsements Committee has no ability to take action on Evan Chemers. Bucher says there is also inadequate notice. He says a Chemers endorsement can be considered by the whole Central Committee who can endorse more candidates than spots and who would have adequate notice.

With the retirements of Councilmen Joel Lautenschleger and Allan Songstad, for the first time in the history of Laguna Hills, the majority of the City Council will not be members of the inaugural City Council that took office in 1991. Five candidates have filed to replace Lautenschleger and Songstad, and all but one is a major contender.

In alphabetical order by last name (with their ballot designations), the candidates are:

We can quickly rule out AJ Djowharzadeh (R), who won 6% of the vote in his 2010 bid for Laguna Hills City Council.

The major contenders are:

Blount is a businessman who’s launched real estate, financial analysis, and software companies. Blount’s gathered the endorsements of various elected officials, including District Attorney Tony Rackauckas, Assemblyman Jim Silva, and various City Councilmembers from across Orange County.

Gilbert is a former Trustee on the Saddleback Valley Unified School District, serving from 1981-2010. He is a doctor who joined the Army at the age of 60 and is currently a Lieutenant Colonel in the United States Army Reserve.

Hunt is the former Orange County Sheriff’s Lieutenant who unsuccessfully challenged incumbent Sheriff Mike Carona in the 2006 election. As an OCSD Lieutenant, he served as the de facto Chief of Police for San Clemente. Carona demoted him after the election, and Hunt elected to leave the department instead. After Carona resigned in 2008 in the face of a 66-count federal corruption indictment, Hunt sought the appointment to be Orange County Sheriff, but the Board of Supervisors appointed Sandra Hutchens instead. Hunt unsuccessfully challenged Hutchens in the 2010 election. He now owns a private investigation business in Laguna Hills. Hunt’s gathered the endorsements of various elected officials, including Senator Mimi Walters, Assemblyman Don Wagner, the majority of the Laguna Hills City Council, and various City Councilmembers from South Orange County.

Mathur is the former Chancellor of the South Orange County Community District, the former President of Irvine Valley College, and a former Trustee on the Saddleback Valley Unified School District, serving from 1983-1992. Mathur has gathered the endorsements of various elected officials, including District Attorney Tony Rackauckas, Orange County Board of Education President Dr. Ken Williams, and several City Councilmembers from across Orange County.

While Emami was chasing his tail trying to get an explanation from the Orange County Registrar of Voters for why AD-69 and AD-72 had candidate filing extended (as he described in this grammatically-flawed post incorrectly blaming the Registrar), I went to the source of the people actually responsible for the filing extension: the Secretary of State. They were the ones who instructed the county registrars to extend filing on various races. The Secretary of State had sent this memo to the county registrars (h/t to Capitol Alert for that memo, which was oddly placed inside a post about Elizabeth Emken getting the CRP endorsement).

After contacting friends in Sacramento, they inform me that once the filing period extension has been announced, the Secretary of State cannot reverse the decision, as only a judge with a court order can shut down filing. Only a candidate who has already completed filing has standing to launch the lawsuit necessary to get the court order (in other words only Tom Daly, Michele Martinez, Julio Perez, or Paco Barragan can sue to end the AD-69 filing extension, and only Troy Edgar, Long Pham, Travis Allen, Joe Dovinh, or Albert Ayala can sue to end the AD-72 filing extension). If they launched the lawsuit, they’d also have to show that they were harmed by the filing extension (i.e. another candidate filed, but no new person has pulled papers in either AD-69 or AD-72 as of this morning).

Even if a candidate launched the suit, they’d have to be willing to suffer the negative press and the hits from their opponents accusing them of “anti-democratic” action by trying to prevent people from joining the race.

Then in the lawsuit itself, the candidate would then face off against bureaucrats in the Secretary of State’s office who would show some bizarrely liberal interpretation of law justifying the extension. Then, the plaintiff candidate would have to convince the judge that there was enough damage done to themselves and the electoral process from having additional candidates that warranted an injunction (99% chance the judge would not issue an injunction to reduce the number of candidates).

The Orange County Registrar of Voters also sent this out to their e-mail list yesterday:

Explanation for Contest Extensions

March 12, 2012 – Statewide 53 Congressional, Senate and Assembly contests were extended by the Secretary of State to March 14th at 5:00 p.m. This takes place in races “for which no eligible incumbent is seeking reelection”. The key is eligible – according to the Secretary of State they have determined that some districts that appear to lack an incumbent have eligible candidates (who currently hold office) that could have moved into the district, causing an incumbency. Redistricting has contributed to this and In Orange County there are two Assembly Districts (69th and 72nd) that fall into this category.

So it seems that the Secretary of State’s office was encouraging carpetbagging.

Despite Jose Solorio being termed out and the vast majority of AD-69 being his district, the justification for extending AD-69 is because tiny pieces of Anaheim and Orange from Chris Norby’s old district were included in the new AD-69, candidate filing was extended since Chris Norby chose to run for his hometown’s AD-65 instead of carpetbagging into AD-69.

Despite Jim Silva being termed out and the only sitting Assembly Member in the boundaries of AD-72, the justification for extending AD-72 is because is because portions of Allan Mansoor’s old district were included in the new AD-72, candidate filing was extended since Allan Mansoor chose to run for his hometown’s AD-74 instead of carpetbagging into AD-72.

Wow. Sometimes the Secretary of State can make even the most cynical people more cynical.

(In the interest of full disclosure, I do work in the office of Assemblyman Chris Norby for my day job. However, I would oppose him carpetbagging into AD-69 even if I did not work for him.)